Theater

Theater Listings for April 12-18

February 36 2013 Danny Burstein, left, and Sarah Paulson in Roundabout Theater Company production of "Talley's Folly."

Sara Krulwich / The New York Times

April 11, 2013

Theater

Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current productions, additional listings, showtimes and ticket information are at nytimes.com/theater. A searchable, critical guide to theater is at nytimes.com/events.

Previews and Openings

‘The Assembled Parties’ (in previews; opens on Wednesday) Nobody could accuse Richard Greenberg of slacking this season. Within weeks of unveiling his take on “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and a month ahead of the “Far From Heaven” musical adaptation for which he wrote the book, Mr. Greenberg introduces this new work. Directed by Lynne Meadow for Manhattan Theater Club, it focuses on a well-heeled Upper West Side Jewish family whose stability is threatened at the dawn of the 21st century. The cast includes Jessica Hecht, Judith Light and Jeremy Shamos. Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (David Rooney)

‘The Big Knife’ (in previews; opens on Tuesday) Following last year’s sterling revival of “Golden Boy,” the Clifford Odets appreciation season continues with this production from Roundabout Theater Company. The caustic 1949 work drew on Odets’s firsthand experience as a Hollywood screenwriter to observe the machinations behind the studio management of a star embroiled in a scandal that threatens to end his career. Doug Hughes directs an ensemble headed by Bobby Cannavale and Marin Ireland, along with the veterans Richard Kind and Chip Zien. American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Rooney)

‘Bunty Berman Presents...’ (previews start on Friday; opens on May 9) The New Group had a hit in 2008 with Ayub Khan Din’s “Rafta, Rafta...,” a delightful comedy about Indian families in England’s working-class North West. The same playwright returns with another ellipsis, this time attached to a Bollywood-style musical about a 1950s Bombay film producer whose star is fading, along with that of his once adored leading man. Mr. Khan Din wrote the book and lyrics, and shared composing duties with Paul Bogaev. After doing a bang-up job on the earlier work, Scott Elliott again directs. Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Collapse’ (in previews; opens on Tuesday) As the title suggests, Allison Moore’s comedy depicts a world falling apart. Widely produced at theaters across the country over the past two years, the play centers on four middle-class people trapped when the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River in 2007, their woes further fueled by the global financial crisis the next year, post-traumatic stress disorder and sex addiction. The production comes courtesy of the Women’s Project, with Jackson Gay directing. New York City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org. (Rooney)

‘The Dance of Death’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) A New York company whose mission is to shake the starch out of classical theater, Red Bull presents this new Strindberg adaptation by Mike Poulton, best known for his 2003 take on Turgenev’s “Fortune’s Fool.” Joseph Hardy directs Daniel Davis, Laila Robins and Derek Smith in the savage battle of wills that ensues when a figure from the past intrudes on the sour marriage of a military captain and a former actress on an isolated island. Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, (212) 352-3101, redbulltheater.com. (Rooney)

‘Furry’ (opens on Thursday) If those makeshift Times Square costumes of Cookie Monster, Buzz Lightyear and Spider-Man didn’t already make you a tad uneasy, William Burke’s new play should do the trick. It’s about a mentally unstable man in an Elmo suit looking to expand his turf among the Midtown tourists by any means necessary, with Sun Tzu (“The Art of War”) and Margaret Wise Brown (“Goodnight Moon”) as his mentors. Jack, 505 1/2 Waverly Avenue, at Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, jackny.org. (Eric Grode)

‘Here Lies Love’ (in previews; opens on April 23) You were expecting a conventional bio-musical from a creative team that includes the maverick musicians David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, the director Alex Timbers and the choreographer Annie-B Parson? Exploring the abuse of power, this show deconstructs the journey of the former Filipina first lady and shoe hoarder Imelda Marcos as an immersive dance-club experience. The audience stands throughout, weaving among the performers in a 360-degree scenic and video environment. Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Rooney)

‘I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers’ (in previews; opens on April 24) One fabulous larger-than-life broad who blazed through the 1970s takes on another in this solo vehicle by John Logan (“Red”), fresh off rejuvenating the James Bond franchise with his screenplay for “Skyfall.” Though fans can lament that Bette Midler won’t be singing in her first Broadway appearance in more than 30 years, Miss M should find ample scope for her irrepressible wit in this portrait of the Hollywood superagent, renowned for her stellar client list, her parties, her caftans and her sailor-mouth vocabulary. Joe Mantello directs. Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Jekyll & Hyde’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) The indefatigable composer Frank Wildhorn was a short-term tenant on Broadway with “Wonderland” and “Bonnie & Clyde.” But this show, which features a book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, ran for almost four years in its 1997 production and went on to play across the globe. Starring as Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th-century London medic with the dangerous personality disorder is Constantine Maroulis, with Deborah Cox as the kindhearted prostitute Lucy. Directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun, the production plays a 13-week engagement at the end of its national tour. Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway at West 46th Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com. (Rooney)

‘Julius Caesar’ (in previews; opens on Friday) Gregory Doran, the recently appointed artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, conceived this fresh twist on the political tragedy after reading margin annotations in a copy of the text passed around by prisoners on Robben Island, among them Nelson Mandela. Performed by an all-black British cast and featuring live contemporary West African music composed by Akintayo Akinbode, this reinterpretation traces parallels between ancient Rome and Africa’s turbulent history over the past half-century. Harvey Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100, bam.org. (Rooney)

‘The Last Will’ (in previews; opens on Wednesday) Austin Pendleton directs (and stars in) this final chapter in Robert Brustein’s trilogy examining the life of William Shakespeare, presented by the Abingdon Theater Company. Following “Mortal Terror” and “The English Channel,” the play speculates on the mysteries of Shakespeare’s later years back in Stratford. It posits that a fatal illness clouded his ability to distinguish fact from fiction, prompting him to accuse his neglected wife of cuckolding him with his brother, while Richard Burbage urged the addled playwright to return to London and resume working. June Havoc Theater, Abingdon Theater Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street, (212) 868-2055, abingdontheatre.org. (Rooney)

‘Macbeth’ (in previews; opens on April 21) Two figures clinically survey the action, but the speaking roles are the exclusive domain of Alan Cumming in this feverish reimagining of the Scottish play as the obsessive torment of a haunted psychiatric patient. The Tony-winning director John Tiffany (“Once”) and Andrew Goldberg (“The Bomb-itty of Errors”) stage the audacious National Theater of Scotland production, seen briefly in New York last summer at the Lincoln Center Festival. It lands on Broadway for 73 performances, giving a wider audience the chance to watch the polysexual Mr. Cumming ply his erotic skills on himself as an incentive for murder. Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Mayday Mayday’ (previews start on Tuesday; opens on April 22) The last time Tristan Sturrock was on the stage of St. Ann’s Warehouse, he was playing the extremely active male lead in “Brief Encounter.” Who would have guessed that just a few years earlier, with a baby on the way, he was crumpled at the base of a wall with a broken neck? This solo show demonstrates how he got from there to here. It’s directed by Katy Carmichael, who would know a thing or two about the subject matter: She was the pregnant wife at the time. St. Ann’s Warehouse, 29 Jay Street, at Plymouth Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779, stannswarehouse.org. (Grode)

‘The Memory Show’ (previews start on Tuesday; opens on April 30) Perhaps the success of “Next to Normal,” which dealt with bipolar disorder, has paved the way for musical treatments of other health woes. This piece by Zach Redler and Sara Cooper also follows a family (here a mother and a daughter) as it grapples with the mother’s illness (Alzheimer’s disease). Joe Calarco directed Catherine Cox and the up-and-comer Leslie Kritzer in a Barrington Stage Company production in 2010, and now all three are doing the same for the adventurous Transport Group. The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (646) 223-3010, new42.org. (Grode)

‘Motown: the Musical’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) He has been a boxer, a record store owner and perhaps the greatest hit-making producer of all time, so why shouldn’t Berry Gordy add Broadway book writer to his résumé? He has a decent safety net in the form of the peerless Motown song catalog, which includes several tunes he had a part in writing. Expect to see and hear Smokey, Diana, Marvin and many, many, many others, all directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and supported by a relatively luxurious 18-piece orchestra. Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Grode)

‘The Nance’ (in previews; opens on Monday) A stock figure of traditional burlesque, the nance was a stereotypical sissy usually played by a heterosexual performer. That’s not the case in Douglas Carter Beane’s new play, which stars Nathan Lane in the title role of a man juggling his career as a beloved stage headliner with a messy secret life in the gay underground of 1930s New York. Jack O’Brien directs an ensemble that reunites Mr. Lane with his “Producers” cast mate Cady Huffman. Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Nikolai and the Others’ (in previews; opens on May 6) The always inventive David Cromer directs a large cast that includes Blair Brown, Michael Cerveris, Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover and Stephen Kunken in this latest excursion into history from Richard Nelson. Set in Westport, Conn., during a spring weekend in 1948, the play considers the questionable ways in which American art was financed at the start of the cold war. It focuses on a gathering of Russian émigrés, including George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky, retracing the roots of their collaboration on the ballet “Orpheus.” Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Orphans’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) Alec Baldwin returns to Broadway post-“30 Rock,” flanked by Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge in Lyle Kessler’s 1983 drama about two almost feral brothers holed up alone in a run-down North Philadelphia row house, and the wealthy kidnapped criminal who becomes a surrogate father to them. A week into rehearsals the production made headlines when Shia LaBeouf abruptly exited after backstage disagreements; Mr. Foster stepped in to take his place. Daniel Sullivan directs. Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, 236 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Pippin’ (in previews; opens on April 25) The 1970s redux on Broadway didn’t fare well last season, with neither “Godspell” nor “Jesus Christ Superstar” sticking around long. But Diane Paulus managed to make the countercultural relic “Hair” feel vital and relevant in her thrilling 2009 revival. So she might also be the right person to give a fresh take on Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson’s 1972 show about a restless royal heir seeking his “Corner of the Sky.” First seen at the American Repertory Theater, where Ms. Paulus is artistic director, the show features Matthew James Thomas, Patina Miller, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise and Andrea Martin, with circus and acrobatic elements created by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based troupe 7 Fingers. Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Plenty of Time’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) John Shévin Foster, under the auspices of the New Federal Theater, has taken the conceit of “Same Time, Next Year” — a decades-spanning look at the annual tryst carried on by one couple — and transposed it to the racial ferment of the late 1960s. Here it is a Black Panther (Jackie Alexander, who also directs) and a Southern debutante (Traci Tolmaire) who try to keep the flame burning over more than 30 years. Castillo Theater, 543 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 941-5800, castillo.org. (Grode)

‘The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream’ (previews start Monday; opens on Thursday) First seen in December at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, N.Y., this show, written by Steven Van Zandt, who is also a co-director and co-producer, “fondly traces the band’s story with the 1960s very much in view,” Jon Pareles wrote in his review for The Times. Billed as a “hybrid of a rock ’n’ roll concert and a Broadway show,” this production reunites the original band members — Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish — for a concert performance that also outlines the group’s history through archival footage, filmed re-enactments and narration. Expect to hear hits like “It’s a Beautiful Morning,” “Good Lovin’ ” and “Groovin’.” Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com. (Nicole Herrington)

‘Richard III: Born With Teeth’ (previews start on Tuesday; opens on April 21) The logo for this modern-day adaptation by Epic Theater Ensemble actually crosses out the name of Shakespeare’s hunchbacked usurper, replacing it with that apocryphal natal dental factoid from the play. (What’s the big deal? One out of every 2,000 to 3,000 babies is born with teeth, and how many of those order the execution of a pair of preteens?) It’s part of the National Endowment for the Arts program Shakespeare for a New Generation. Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 270-4200, ticketcentral.com. (Grode)

‘The Testament of Mary’ (in previews; opens on April 22) Before it became a searing novella, the Irish author Colm Toibin’s eloquently humanized first-person account of the post-Crucifixion years of Mary, mother of Jesus, was an acclaimed monologue performed at the Dublin Theater Festival in 2011 by Marie Mullan under the direction of Garry Hynes. This new production, starring Fiona Shaw, is the latest chapter in the long and fruitful creative partnership between Ms. Shaw and the director Deborah Warner, whose work together was last seen on Broadway in a blazing “Medea” in 2002. Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘The Trip to Bountiful’ (in previews; opens on April 23) The director Michael Wilson has a distinguished history staging the work of Horton Foote, most recently with “Dividing the Estate” and “The Orphans’ Home Cycle.” In his production of Foote’s 1953 drama, Cicely Tyson returns to Broadway for the first time in 30 years to play Carrie Watts, a role that has won acclaim for Lillian Gish, Geraldine Page and Lois Smith. The lead character is an elderly Texas woman determined to make one final journey to her hometown, against the wishes of her family. Starring alongside Ms. Tyson are Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams, Condola Rashad and Tom Wopat. Stephen Sondheim Theater, 124 West 43rd Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rooney)

‘Annie’ James Lapine’s revival of the singing comic strip from 1977 is merely serviceable. But its smiley-faced mixture of hope and corn scratches an itch in a city recovering from a recession and a hurricane. Theatergoers may occasionally feel the urge both to mist up and throw up, but Lilla Crawford is a nigh irresistible Orphan Annie. With Katie Finneran and Anthony Warlow (2:25). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Ben Brantley)

★ ‘Kinky Boots’ Cyndi Lauper has created a love-and-heat-seeking score that performs like a pop star on Ecstasy. This Harvey Fierstein-scripted tale of lost souls in shoe business, in which a young factory owner (Stark Sands) teams up with a drag queen (Billy Porter), sometimes turns into a sermon. But it’s hard to resist the audience-hugging charisma of the songs (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Lucky Guy’ Nora Ephron’s elegy and valentine to the rough-and-tumble of big-city newsrooms and scoop-hungry reporters, starring Tom Hanks as the columnist Michael McAlary, is written with a true fan’s avidity. Directed with bells and whistles by George C. Wolfe, this is less a fully developed play than a boisterous swapping of fond anecdotes about the end of a life and the end of an era (2:00). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Nice Work if You Can Get It’ Every now and then a bubble of pure, tickling charm rises from the artificial froth of this pastiche 1920s musical, directed by Kathleen Marshall and featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin. But mostly the production, starring Matthew Broderick, registers as a shiny, dutiful trickle of gags and production numbers (2:30). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ This ultimate and most enduring of makeover stories, via the team who gave us “Oklahoma!,” has been restyled by the director Mark Brokaw and the writer Douglas Carter Beane into a glittery patchwork of snark and sincerity, with a whole lot of fancy ball gowns. Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana are the appealing leading lovers (2:20). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ Portraying a woman mired in what appears to be a permanent midlife crisis, the marvelous comic actor Kristine Nielsen provides much of the laughing gas in Christopher Durang’s uneven but intermittently delightful riff on Chekhovian themes. David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver also star in Nicholas Martin’s production, smoothly transferred from a sellout run Off Broadway (2:30). John Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

Off Broadway

★ ‘All in the Timing’ One of the zestier plates of theatrical tapas to be had. This 20th-anniversary production of David Ives’s popular anthology of mini-plays, directed by John Rando, leaves you feeling lighter, but not emptier. There’s nutrition in these sketches about (gulp!) relativity and randomness, and surprising substance in their silliness. Carson Elrod leads a bouncy cast (1:45). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, (212) 279-4200, primarystages.org. (Brantley)

★ ‘Buyer & Cellar’ Jonathan Tolins has concocted an irresistible one-man play from the most peculiar of fictitious premises — an underemployed Los Angeles actor goes to work in Barbra Streisand’s Malibu basement — allowing the playwright to ruminate with delicious wit and perspicacity on the solitude of celebrity, the love-hate attraction between gay men and divas, and the melancholy that lurks beneath narcissism. In the capable hands of the director Stephen Brackett and the wickedly charming actor Michael Urie, this seriously funny slice of absurdist whimsy creates the illusion of a stage filled with multiple people, all of them with their own droll point of view (1:30). Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, (866) 811-4111, rattlestick.org. (Rooney)

‘Cougar the Musical’ Three older women find themselves attracted to younger men, two against their better judgment. The concept seems made for bus tours, but imagination, appealing numbers with original melodies and theme-transcending jokes lift this show well above the level of “Menopause: The Musical” and its ilk (1:30). St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Anita Gates)

★ ‘Donnybrook!’ This revival of Johnny Burke and Robert E. McEnroe’s 1961 musical (itself an adaptation of “The Quiet Man,” the 1952 St. Patrick’s Day perennial about an Irish-American boxer’s fraught courtship of a redheaded spitfire), jettisons the most dated, disturbing and indulgent elements of the movie but retains the essential sentimental blarney. With a fine cast and crisp direction by Charlotte Moore, the result is as fresh as a morning after rain in the west of Ireland (2:15). Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, (212) 727-2737, irishrep.org. (Andy Webster)

★ ‘Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking’ Gerard Alessandrini’s essential satirical cheat sheet to Broadway musicals returns after a three-year absence, packing polished brass knuckles. A precisionist cast of four provides vocal cartoons as evocative as Al Hirschfeld’s caricatures. This show not only tickles but also pierces the Achilles’ heels of the productions under scrutiny (1:40). At the 47th Street Theater, 304 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Fried Chicken and Latkes’ Rain Pryor, the daughter of the comedian Richard Pryor (who died in 2005), stars in this effervescent solo show, which recounts her upbringing in a biracial household (her mother is Jewish) in Beverly Hills, Calif. Ms. Pryor, who sings and portrays a range of characters (including, poignantly, her father in a spot-on impression) is an ebullient performer with a robust singing voice. She lives in Baltimore now, but her outsize personality is built for Broadway (1:30). Actor’s Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Webster)

★ ‘_______ Up Everything’ The unprintable title of this winsome rock musical is trying way too hard to shock and awe. But then, so are all the show’s characters, who are Brooklyn faux-hemians desperately trying to prove their anti-establishment bona fides. Poking fun at the pasty-white underbelly of Brooklyn’s hipster crowd is like shooting free-range ducks in an artisanal barrel, but with catchy music and a talented cast, this show still does so exquisitely well (1:35). Elektra Theater, 669 Eighth Avenue, at 42nd Street, Clinton, (866) 811-4111, fueonstage.com. (Catherine Rampell)

‘Fuenteovejuna’ Sometimes, when your boss starts raping and pillaging in the office, the grunts just have to beat him to death with a calculator. If that premise is confusing, so is the rest of a new adaptation of this 17th-century classic play, about a gallant Spanish town that rose up and killed its tyrannical overlord but refused to implicate anyone in his death. The production retains its original Spanish (with English subtitles) but has been poorly grafted onto a modern-day office setting (1:20). Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, Manhattan, (212) 225-9999, repertorio.org. (Rampell)

★ ‘Good With People’ A beautiful, deceptive wisp of a play, David Harrower’s two-character drama, set in a Scottish hotel, is a story of how people haunt their own lives, failing ever to be entirely present no matter where they are. Blythe Duff and Andrew Scott-Ramsay are the entire (and excellent) cast. George Perrin directs with light and icy fingers (1:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-4200, 59e59.org. (Brantley)

‘Hit the Wall’ Ike Holter’s impassioned evocation of the Stonewall Riots and Eric Hoff’s vigorous production are strongest when stylized interpretation eclipses conventional realism. A hit in Chicago last year, the drama is being staged just a stone’s throw from Christopher Park in Greenwich Village where the events depicted occurred, amplifying the historical echoes of the sweltering June night in 1969 when drag queens, gay men and lesbians pushed back during a routine police raid. While the freewheeling play traffics in stereotype and anachronism with mixed results, it adopts a vernacular that speaks sincerely and directly to today’s gay youth, inviting them to honor the earlier generation that broke the chains of marginalization and invisibility (1:35). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com. (Rooney)

‘The Last Five Years’ Jason Robert Brown has mounted a stylish production of his two-character musical about the waxing and waning of young love. Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe play aspiring artists whose paths diverge. Their story is told in songs that are skillfully written but, like his characters, are on the generic side (1:25). Second Stage Theater, 305 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 246-4422, 2st.com. (Isherwood)

‘The Madrid’ Edie Falco, whose face usually seems like an open window, pulls down the blinds in Liz Flahive’s muted, murky play about a runaway kindergarten teacher, directed by Leigh Silverman. Ms. Flahive has a poet’s hand for echoing imagery. But this production often feels paralyzed in its contemplation of the mystery of everyday lives (2:10). City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, (212) 581-1212, nycitycenter.org. (Brantley)

‘My Name Is Asher Lev’ Aaron Posner’s adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel feels like a well-made play from the era in which the story takes place — the 1950s. Set in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn, this tale of an artistic prodigy has been directed with an attention to emotional nuance by Gordon Edelstein and features strong performances from its three-person cast: Ari Brand, Mark Nelson and Jenny Bacon (1:30). Westside Theater/Upstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Rachel Saltz)

★ ‘Passion’ Staged by John Doyle, a minimalist with a scalpel, this hypnotic revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical study of love beyond reason comes across as a pulsing collective fever dream, while reminding us that startling clarity can come from such dreams (1:45). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (866) 811-4111, classicstage.org. (Brantley)

★ ‘The Revisionist’ As a Polish Holocaust survivor in Jesse Eisenberg’s somewhat implausible new play, Vanessa Redgrave reminds us why she’s considered the greatest actress of her generation. She inhabits her character with precision and authority, making us feel like humble, privileged trespassers in an exotic world. Mr. Eisenberg almost holds his own portraying her graceless young American cousin (1:45). Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, West Village, (866) 811-4111, rattlestick.org. (Brantley)

‘Shaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto’ Anna Khaja plays eight characters in her one-woman show that mixes fact and fiction to understand the complicated, contradictory person that was Benazir Bhutto. Ms. Khaja, who wrote the script, is a better actress than writer, and some of the characters seem thin. Still the show reminds us of why Bhutto was so interesting (1:30). Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, near Lafayette Street, East Village, (866) 811-4111, cultureproject.org. (Saltz)

‘Women of Will’ Mixing casually delivered scholarly exposition with intensely rendered performance, this impassioned exploration of Shakespeare’s heroines by Tina Packer traces their evolution through their language. When Ms. Packer and her co-star, Nigel Gore, get down to the business of acting, it’s not just poetry in motion, it’s thought made flesh. Eric Tucker directs (2:30). Gym at Judson, Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Greenwich Village, (866) 811-4111, judson.org/The-Gym. (Brantley)

Off Off Broadway

★ ‘Patti Issues’ In his funny, tender coming-of-age monologue, Ben Rimalower traces the obsessive Patti LuPone fandom that provided him with an empowering role model. That inspiration proved perhaps most useful to Mr. Rimalower in processing the fallout after his father kicked down the closet door and bailed on the family. While on one hand, this is the story of many young gay men’s propensity for diva worship, the tartly observed show goes several steps further by exploring the wide-eyed experiences that result when the acolyte gets to interact with his idol (1:00). Wednesdays only. Duplex Cabaret Theater, 61 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue, Greenwich Village, pattiissues.brownpapertickets.com. (Rooney)

★ ‘Then She Fell’ Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” books, this transporting immersive theater work occupies a dreamscape where the judgments and classifications of the waking mind are suspended. A guided tour of Wonderland, created by Third Rail Projects, leads its participants through a series of rooms and an interactive evening of dance, poetry, food and drink (2:00). Return engagement starts on Saturday. The Kingsland Ward at St. John’s, 195 Maujer Street, near Humboldt Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 374-5196, thenshefell.com. (Brantley)

‘Totally Tubular Time Machine’ This show is less a play or musical than a big, campy, drinking party, with a little bit of singing thrown in. Held at an ’80s-theme dance club in Midtown, it features celebrity impersonators who wander through the crowd handing out party favors (lollipops from Katy Perry, trucker hats from Justin Bieber) and taking turns at karaoke. The impersonations come with varying degrees of similitude and singing talent (2:00). Saturdays only. Culture Club, 20 West 39th Street, (212) 921-1999, totallytubularnyc.com. (Rampell)

‘The Berenstain Bears Live! In Family Matters, the Musical’ This adaptation of three of Stan and Jan Berenstain’s children’s books is pleasant enough, but the cubs are showing their age. Saturday and Sunday only (:55). Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 5 West 63rd Street, (866) 811-4111, berenstainbearslive.com.

‘En el Tiempo de las Mariposas’ Caridad Svich’s Spanish-language adaptation of Julia Álvarez’s novel (“In the Time of the Butterflies”) about the Mirabal sisters, who opposed the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and died as a result (2:00). Repertorio Español at Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, (212) 225-9999, repertorio.org/mariposas.

‘Silence! The Musical’ An “unauthorized parody” of the grisly movie with the Hannibal Lecter character crooning noxious songs and a hilarious sendup of Jodie Foster’s intense Clarice Starling. Not as funny as it needs to be (1:30). Elektra Theater, 674 Eighth Avenue, at 42nd Street, (212) 352-3101, silencethemusical.com.

★ ‘Belleville’ (closes on Sunday) Amy Herzog’s sensationally good new drama is both a nail-biting psychological thriller and a keenly observed — and ultimately heart-rending — portrait of a young couple (the terrific Maria Dizzia and Greg Keller) whose marriage suddenly begins to unravel under the pressure of secrets and lies. Anne Kauffman directs the flawless production (1:35). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 279-4200, nytw.org. (Isherwood)

‘Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Musical Mystery’ (closes on Sunday) Charles Busch livens up this fun adaptation of the kid’s novel about a family enduring some turmoil after adopting a rabbit that may be a vampire (1:05). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200, dr2theatre.com. (Zinoman)

★ ‘Clown Bar’ (closes on Friday) This goofy but very funny homage to noir films and pulp novels finds a cop up against a crew of demented clowns (1:10). Parkside Lounge, 317 East Houston Street, East Village, (800) 838-3006, www.pipelinetheatre.org. (Jaworowski)

‘Detroit ’67’ (closes on Friday) Dominique Morisseau’s overly tidy drama uses the riots that plagued the title city as a background to formulaic stories about a brother and a sister at odds and an interracial romance (1:15). National Black Theater, 2031 Fifth Avenue, near 125th Street, East Harlem, (866) 811-4111, classicaltheatreofharlem.org. (Isherwood)

‘A Dream Play’ (closes on Saturday) This National Asian-American Theater Company production, adapted by Sung Rno and the director Andrew Pang, never really finds its footing with this thorny Strindberg drama (1:25). Here, 145 Avenue of the Americas, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212) 352-3101, here.org (Claudia La Rocco)

‘Geek!’ (closes on Saturday) Crystal Skillman’s fantasia about two girls at an Ohio animé convention on a quest to meet a comic artist is a heartfelt valentine to fandom. This production is also a riot of visual invention, though the story only grazes deeper themes. Nevertheless, the always interesting Ms. Skillman remains a talent to watch (1:20). Incubator Arts Project, St. Mark’s Church, 131 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, incubatorarts.org. (Webster)

‘Hands on a Hardbody’ (closes on Saturday) A daring new musical that burrows into the hearts of average men and women facing fierce economic headwinds: a cross-section of Texans vying to win a Nissan in a grueling endurance test. The terrific score, by Trey Anastasio (of Phish) and Amanda Green, locks into an authentic roots-rock groove and hugs it tight, even if the show cannot always surmount the linear nature of its story (2:30). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Isherwood)

‘Happy Birthday’ (closes on Saturday) Written by Anita Loos in 1946 as a vehicle for Helen Hayes and now revived by the Actors Company Theater, this rather endearingly madcap romantic comedy suffers from a boilerplate narrative (and now, no Helen Hayes) (1:40). Beckett Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (La Rocco)

★ ‘Honky’ (closes on Sunday) This daffy take on race by Greg Kalleres may have been more cutting edge about 25 years ago, but it’s still hilarious. A teenager is killed for his trendy sneakers, and everybody associated with the shoe — the designer, the guy who created the advertising campaign, the president of the shoe company — has to come to grips with issues of attitude and perception. Oh, and along the way someone invents a pill to cure racism (1:45). Urban Stages, 259 West 30th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444, urbanstages.org. (Neil Genzlinger)

★ ‘Kafka’s Monkey’ (closes on Wednesday) Kathryn Hunter gives an extraordinary performance as a creature stranded between a simian past and a human present in this spellbinding adaptation of a Franz Kafka story about human beastliness, adapted by Colin Teevan and directed by Walter Meierjohann (:50). Jerome Robbins Theater, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street, (866) 811-4111, bacnyc.org. (Isherwood)

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ (closes on Saturday) The splendid Jonathan Cake is an exuberant, witty Benedick opposite Maggie Siff’s Beatrice in an otherwise mostly zest-free production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, directed by Arin Arbus for Theater for a New Audience (2:40). The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, (646) 223-3010, dukeon42.org. (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Norwegians’ (closes on Sunday) There is every chance that C. Denby Swanson wrote this odd, dark, profane comedy — about really sweet Scandinavian hit men in Minnesota and the young women who hire them — after falling asleep during “Fargo.” But this low-budget guilty pleasure delivers solid laughs while making fun (in mostly nice ways) of various ethnicities and American states. And one actress demonstrates how good Mary-Louise Parker might be as a stand-up comic (1:30). Drilling Company Theater, 236 West 78th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com. (Gates)

‘Saga’ (closes on Sunday) This wonderfully theatrical puppet show, about the human impact of the financial crisis in Iceland, loses some of its power when it turns dark and violent (1:05). Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, at 25th Street, (866) 811-4111, wakkawakka.org. (Zinoman)

‘The Sister’ (closes on Saturday) Eric John Meyer’s play — about a husband (Jeb Kreager) who verbally abuses his wife, Leanne (Alley Scott), and sister-in-law (Erin Mallon) — may be intended as a dark comedy. But despite moments of absurdist wit, it feels more like a domestic hothouse of spleen and invective (1:10). Fourth Street Theater, 83 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, dutchkillstheater.com. (Webster)

‘Three Trees’ (closes on Sunday) This play is inspired by the life of the 20th-century artist Alberto Giacometti and his relationship with his muse, the Japanese philosophy professor Isaku Yanaihara, who also happened to be sleeping with Giacometti’s wife. In between scenes of posing and portrait making, there is plenty of drama: the love triangle, petty jealousies and rivalries, deceit, fits of loneliness and rebellion. But the humanity and emotionality of these events often get lost in the diffuse philosophical dissertations of Alvin Eng’s script (2:10). West End Theater, 263 West 86th Street, (866) 811-4111, panasianrep.org. (Rampell)